Mathematics for Pharmacy Students

Practice problems and solutions

Norbert Bogya

September 8, 2017

If you find any mistakes in the problems or in the exercises, please contact me:
nbogya@math.u-szeged.hu

1 Mixture problems
Model
When we mix x amount of p% and y amount of q% solution, the mixture has the following
properties.

Amount Concentration (%)

Sol 1 x p
Sol 2 y q
px + qy
Mix x+y
x+y
Water has 0% and salt has 100% concentration.

Problem 1. How much of 25% and 50% concentrated solutions should be mixed to obtain 150
mg solution of 40% concentration?
Solution 1. 60 mg of 25% and 90 mg of 50% solution
Problem 2. What (salt or water) and how much of it do we have to mix to salt solution of
10% concentration in order to obtain 30 kg of 25% concentrated solution.
Solution 2. 5 kg salt
Problem 3. How much of 30% and 50% concentrated solutions should be mixed to obtain 20
kg solution of 55% concentration?
Solution 3. We cannot do it. We cannot obtain 55% solution by mixing 30% and 50% solutions.
Problem 4. How much of 25% and 60% concentrated solutions should be mixed to obtain 15
kg solution of 45% concentration?
45 60
Solution 4. 7
kg of 25% and 7
kg of 60% solution

1
Problem 5. What (salt or water) and how much of it do we have to mix to salt solution of
15% concentration in order to obtain 20 kg of 25% concentrated solution.
40
Solution 5. 17
kg salt

Problem 6. We have 5 kg 30% concentrated solution. How much of 5% solution should be

added to decrease its concentration to 15%?
15
Solution 6. 2
kg of 5% solution

Problem 7. We have 60g 10% concentrated solution. How much concentrated solution should
be added to obtain 100g 15% concentrated mixture?

Solution 7. We need 22.5% solution.

Problem 8. How many liters of a 70% alcohol solution must be added to 50 liters of a 40%
alcohol solution to produce a 50% alcohol solution?

Solution 8. 25 liters of 70% alcohol.

Problem 9. How many ounces of pure water must be added to 50 ounces of a 15% saline
solution to make a saline solution that is 10% salt?

Solution 9. 25 ounces of pure water.

Problem 10. John wants to make a 100 ml of 5% alcohol solution mixing a quantity of a 2%
alcohol solution with a 7% alcohol solution. What are the quantities of each of the two solutions
(2% and 7%) he has to use?

Solution 10. 40 ml of 2% and 60 ml of 7% alcohol.

Problem 11. Sterling Silver is 92.5% pure silver. How many grams of Sterling Silver must be
mixed to a 90% Silver alloy to obtain a 500g of a 91% Silver alloy?

Solution 11. 200 grams of Sterling Silver

Problem 12. How many Kilograms of Pure water is to be added to 100 Kilograms of a 30%
saline solution to make it a 10% saline solution.

Solution 12. 200 kg of pure water

Problem 13. A 50 ml after-shave lotion at 30% alcohol is mixed with 30 ml of pure water.
What is the percentage of alcohol in the new solution?

Solution 13. 18.75% alcohol.

2
2 Algebraic and logarithmic rules
Algebraic rules and properties
1 (am )n = amn an · bn = (ab)n
a−1 =
a an  a  n
1 am · an = am+n =
a−m = bn b
am
√ am
n
am = a n
m
= am−n
an
Basic rules of logarithm

lg x = log10 x loga ak = k loga x + loga y = loga (xy)

aloga x = x loga x − loga y = loga xy
loga xk = k · loga x

Problem 14. Simplify the following expressions.

q
√
q
√
3
√4
q
3 √ p √ 4
√
3
√
3
√
5 25, 3 27, 64, −9 3, 3
1/125, x3 · x4 , 74 · 7−2 ,
1 1 √ √ 1
log3 (34x−2 ),
3
logx3 3 , logx 2 , log5 25, logx x, log1/3 81, logx √
x x x
√ √ √
y
√ √
p 2 2
2 y− x
5 3 1 xy 3 + zx yxz x yz
d2 · d2 , 4 , √ 2 , √ , √
2 y
, √
2y z xy y xz x xy 3
z


2 x
− lg 4 −3 lg 2
100 , 10 , 0.1lg 2016 , 100lg 8 , 1000− lg 2 , 0.1−3 lg 2 , 32 log3 4 ,
 1/3
1 44 2−6 1
0.25log2 3 , 45 · 24 , x−3 · x−1 , , , ,
6 · 6−5
3 26 4−2 8
s
√ √ √ √ √
q q q q q
3 9 3
4 4, 3 − 5 · 3 + 5, √ , 2 · 2 · 23 , 3 · 3 · 27
16

Solution 14.
√ 25 √
−35/6 ,
3
5, 3, 2 2, 1/5, x 12 , 7
4x − 2, −1, −2, 2/3, 1/2, −4, −1/2
√ √ √
x8 1 x x x·z y 1
d16/15 , 4
, √ + 2 , √ , 2
− 3, xy −1/2 z 2/3
16y yz y y x x
1/16, 1/8, 1/2016, 64, 1/8, 8, 16,
−4
1/9, 214 , x , 36, 4, 1/4, 1/2
3
2, 2, , 29/4 , 313/6
2

3
3 Equations
Basic assumptions
a √
: b 6= 0 loga x : x > 0 n
x : x ≥ 0 (if n is even)
b
Quatratic formula
Quadratic equation:
ax2 + bx + c = 0
Solution(s): √
−b ± b2 − 4ac
x1,2 =
2a
Factorization:
ax2 + bx + c = a(x − x1 )(x − x2 )

Problem 15. Solve the following equations.

(a) x2 + x − 6 = 0
(b) x2 (x2 + 4x − 5)
x3 (1−x)
(c) x2 +2x+1
=0
−2x
(d) 2e − 3e−3x = 0
log2 (x+3)
(e) 3 = 1√
log3 (x−1)
(f) 2 = 32
(g) 2x − 9 · 3x = 0

Solution 15.

(a) 2, −3
(b) 1, −5
(c) 0, 1
(d) ln(3/2)
(e) −2
√3
(f) 3+1
(g) log 2 9
3

4
4 Equation of a straight line
Equation
Equation of a line has the form
y = a · x + b,
where a is the slope of the straight line and b is the intersection with the vertical axis.

Problem 16. Determine the equation of the straight line passing through the points A and
B. Plot the equation in a Cartesian coordinate system.

(a) A(−1, 3), B(2, 5) (d) A(6, 2), B(4, 1) (g) A(−1, 5), B(1, 1)
(b) A(−1, 4), B(3, 4) (e) A(6, −4), B(0, 5) (h) A(−6, 2), B(4, −1)
(c) A(1, −2), B(−2, 7) (f) A(−2, −6), B(5, 3) (i) A(7, 2), B(2, 3)

Solution 16.

(a) y = 23 x + 11
3
(d) y = 12 x − 1 (g) y = −2x + 3
(b) y = 4 (e) y = − 32 x + 5 (h) y = − 10 3
x + 15
(c) y = −3x + 1 (f) y = 97 x − 24
7
(i) y = − 51 x + 17
5
y

7
(c)
6

5 (a)
(i)
(b)
4
(f )
3
(h)
2
(d)
1

x
−6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
−1

−2

−3 (g)
(e)
−4

−5

−6

5
Problem 17. Determine the equation of the straight line passing through the point A with
slope m.

(a) A(−1, 3), m = 2 (c) A(5, −2), m = −3 (e) A(3, −2), m = − 43

(b) A(−1, 4), m = − 12 (d) A(1, 1), m = 34 (f) A(2, 1), m = 52

Solution 17.

(a) y = 2x + 5 (c) y = −3x + 13 (e) y = − 34 x + 2

(b) y = − 12 x + 7
2
(d) y = 43 x + 14 (f) y = 52 x − 4
y

9
(a)
8 (f )
(c)
7

(b)
5
(d)
4

x
−5 −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5

−1

−2
(e)
−3

−4

6
5 Parabolas
Completing the square

ax2 + bx + c = a(x + u)2 + v,

where (u, v) is the peak point (minimum or maximum).

Problem 18. Rewrite the following quadratic expressions by completing the square. Find the
peak point of the functions and plot their graphs.

(a) f (x) = x2 − 2x + 3 (c) h(x) = 2x2 + 8x − 1 (e) G(x) = −x2 − 6x − 1

(b) g(x) = x2 + 4x − 2 (d) F (x) = 3x2 − 6x − 1 (f) H(x) = −2x2 + 4x + 3

Solution 18.

(a) f (x) = (x − 1)2 + 2, peak point: (1, 2) (d) F (x) = 3(x − 1)2 − 4, peak point: (1, −4)
(b) g(x) = (x + 2)2 − 6, peak point: (−2, −6) (e) G(x) = −(x+3)2 +8, peak point: (−3, 8)
(c) h(x) = 2(x+2)2 −9, peak point: (−2, −9) (f) H(x) = −2(x − 1)2 + 5, peak point: (1, 5)
y
8 (a)
(e)
7
6
(f )
5
4
(b)
3
2
1
x
−6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5
−1
−2
−3
(d)
−4
−5
−6
−7
−8
(c)
−9

7
6 Elementary functions
Problem 19. Give the domain of the following functions, and plot their graphs.
1 √ √
(x + 1)3 , , x − 1, 1+ 3
x, 2−x , − log2 x,
x−2
√ x2
3x−2 , log3 (x + 1), 2x, , log2 (2x),
3
 2
1
− x + 1 , − log2 (x + 2) − 1, 1 − 2−x
2
√ √
−2 log2 (x + 3), 1 − x + 2, 2 3 x − 1 + 1, 1 − (x − 2)2 , 1 − e−x

y y
10 10
9 x3 9 1
x
8 (x + 1)3 8 1
x+2
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
x x
−5−4−3−2−1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 −9−8−7−6−5−4−3−2−1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
−2 −2
−3 −3
−4 −4
D : x 6= −2
−5 −5
−6 D: R −6
−7 −7
−8 −8
−9 −9
−10 −10

y y
10 √ 6 √
9 x 5 x
3
√ √
8 x−1 4 1+ 3x
7 3
6 2
5 1
4 D: x ≥ 1 x
3 −8−7−6−5−4−3−2−1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
2 −2
1 −3
x −4 D: R
−2−1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 −5
−2 −6

8
 y
10
9 2x
8 2−x
7
6
5
4
3
2 D: R
1
x
−8−7−6−5−4−3−2−1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
−2

y y
10 10
9 log2 x 3x 9
8 − log2 x 3x−2 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 D: R 2
1 1
x x
−2−1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 −10−9−8−7−6−5−4−3−2−1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6
−2 −2
−3 −3
−4 D: x > 0 −4
−5 −5
−6 −6
−7 −7
−8 −8
−9 −9
−10 −10

9
 y y
10 10
√
9 log3 x 9 x
√
8 log3 (x + 1) 8 2x
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
x x
−3−2−1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 −3−2−1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
−2 −2
−3 −3
−4 D: x > 1 −4 D: x ≥ 0
−5 −5
−6 −6
−7 −7
−8 −8
−9 −9
−10 −10

y
10
9 x2
8 x2
3
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
x
−10−9−8−7−6−5−4−3−2−1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
−2
−3
−4 D: R
−5
−6
−7
−8
−9
−10

10
 y
10
9 log2 x
8 log2 (2x)
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
x
−3−2−1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
−2
−3
−4 D: x > 0
−5
−6
−7
−8
−9
−10

y
10
x2 9
(x + 1)2
(− 12 x + 1)2 8
7
6
5
4
3
D: R
2
1
x
−10 −9 −8 −7 −6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
−1
−2

11
 y
10
9 log2 x
8 log2 (x + 2)
7 − log2 (x + 2)
− log2 (x + 2) − 3
6
5
4
3
2
1
x
−10−9 −8 −7 −6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
−2
−3
−4
−5
−6
−7 D : x > −2
−8
−9
−10
y
10
9 2x
8 2−x
7 −2−x
1 − 2−x
6
5
4
3
2
1
x
−10−9 −8 −7 −6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
−2
−3
−4
−5
−6
−7 D: R
−8
−9
−10

12
 y y
10 10
√
9 log2 x 9 x
√
8 log2 (x + 3) 8 x+2
7 −2 log2 (x + 3) 7 √
− x+2
6 6 √
1− x+2
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
x x
−5−4−3−2−1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 −5−4−3−2−1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
−2 −2
−3 −3
−4 D : x > −3 −4
−5 −5 D : x ≥ −2
−6 −6
−7 −7
−8 −8
−9 −9
−10 −10

y
6
√
3
x 5
√
3
x−1
√3
4
2 x−1
√
3 3
2 x−1+1
2
1
x
−8 −7 −6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
−1
−2
−3 D: R
−4
−5
−6

13
 y
8
x2 7
(x − 2)2 6
−(x − 2)2 5
1 − (x − 2)2 4
3
2
1
x
−10−9 −8 −7 −6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5 6
−1
−2
−3
D: R
−4
−5
−6
−7
−8
y
10
9 ex
8 e−x
7 −e−x
1 − e−x
6
5
4
3
2
1
x
−10−9 −8 −7 −6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
−2
−3
−4
D: R
−5
−6
−7
−8
−9
−10

14
7 Half-life, doubling time, inverse
Problem 20. Give the half-life or the doubling time of the following functions.

(a) 5 · 2−0.1x+3 (h) 2 · 5−3x+2 (o) 3 · 23t

(b) 23·x+1 (i) 0.01 · 10−3x+5 (p) e−x+3
(c) 2−4x−1 (j) 0.1 · 107x+2 (q) 0.1 · 32t
(d) 4−2x+1 (k) 2 · e−3x+1 (r) 10 · 2−3x
(e) 40.3x−2 (l) 3 · 4−5x (s) 3 · 4−3x+1
(f) 75·x−1 (m) 5−2x+4 (t) e5t−1
(g) 6−x−2 (n) 2 · e2t−1 (u) 10−3x−1

Solution 19.

(a) 10 (h) log35 2 (o) 1/3

(b) 1/2 (i) lg32 (p) ln 2
log3 2
(c) 1/4 (j) lg72 (q) 2
(d) 1/4 (k) ln32 (r) 1/3
(e) 5/3 (l) 1/10 (s) 1/6
ln 2
(f) log7 2 (m) log25 2 (t) 5
(g) log6 2 lg 2
(n) ln22 (u) 3

Problem 21. Determine the formula for the inverse of the following functions.
2x+3
√
(a) f (x) = 4x−1 (g) f (x) = 2 3 x + 3 − 2 (m) l(x) = (x − 1)2 + 5
3 3x−2
(b) g(x) = (x
√ + 2) + 8 (h) g(x) = 5 · 10 + 4 (n) m(x) = e2x+3 − 1
3
5
(c) h(x) = x − 3 (i) h(x) = 2 · (x − 4) − 1 (o) p(x) = 10x−1 + 2
(d) t(x) = 1 − 2 ln(x + 5) (j) i(x) = − log3 (x − 5) + 4 (p) q(x) = lg(x − 2) + 1
(e) k(x) = 3 · 2−4x+2 (k) j(x) = log
√4 x + 3
(f) v(x) = 2(3x − 5)7 − 3 (l) k(x) = 3 x − 3 + 2

Solution 20.
q
(a) f (x) = 12 2x−1
x+3
(f) v(x) = 1
· x+3
7
+ 53 (k) j(x) = 4x−3
√ 3 2
(b) g(x) = 3 x − 8 − 2 x+2 2

(l) (x − 2)3 + 3
k(x) = √
(g) f (x) = −3 (m) l(x) = x − 5 + 1
(c) h(x) = x5 + 3 2
lg( x−4 )+2
(d)
1 1
t(x) = e− 2 x+ 2 − 5 (h) g(x) =
q 3
5
(n) m(x) = ln(y+1)−3
2
x
(e)
log
k(x) = 2−43
−2
(i) h(x) = 3 x+1
+4 (o) p(x) = lg(x − 2) + 1
2
4−x
(p) q(x) = 10x−1 + 2
(j) i(x) = 3 +5

15
8 Logarithmic coordinate system
Problem 22. Plot the following functions in the appropriate logarithmic coordinate system.

(a) 2 · 10−x (d) 0.01 · 100.4x (g) 1000x−3

1/3
(b) 10x2 (e) 1 − lg x2 (h) lg x 4
1
(c) lg x−3 + 2 (f) 100 · 10− 3 x+1 (i) 0.1 · x4

Solution 21. Solutions are plotted in three different coordinate systems. Here we just mention
the type of the coordinate system, and you can find the graphs below.

(a) Lin-Log (d) Lin-Log (g) Log-Log

(b) Log-Log (e) Log-Lin (h) Log-Lin
(c) Log-Lin (f) Lin-Log (i) Log-Log

Problem 23. Mark the following (x, y) points in the appropriate logarithmic coordinate sys-
tem.

(a) Lin-Log: (0, 1), (1, 1), (2, 4), (2, 40), (3, 0.01)
(b) Log-Log: (1, 1), (10, 0.1), (5, 1000), (50, 1000)
(c) Log-Lin: (1, 0), (1, 1), (2, 2), (200, 2)

Solution 22. Solutions can be found in the following coordinate systems.

y Lin-Log coordinate system

0.01 · 100.4x
103
2 · 10−x
1
100 · 10− 3 x+1
102
(2, 40)

101
(2, 4)
(0, 1) (1, 1)
x
−1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

10−1

10−2 (3, 0.01)

10−3

16
 Log-Log coordinate
y system

106 10 · x2
1000 · x−3 yLog-Lin coordinate system
0.1 · x4 5
10 5
1 − lg x2
lg x−3 + 2
4 1/3
lg x 4
104
3
(5, 1000)
103
(50, 1000) (2, 2) (200, 2)
2

102
1 (1, 1)
17

101 (1, 0)
x
10−2 10−1 101 102 103 104 105
(1, 1)
x
10−2 10−1 101 102 −1

10−1 −2
(10, 0.1)

10−2 −3

10−3 −4
Problem 24. Determine the formula of the following functions.

y
5

x
−3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
−1

−2

−3

−4

−5

y
105

104

103

102

101

x
10−3 10−2 10−1 101 102 103 104 105
10−1

10−2

10−3

18
 y
105

104

103

102

101

x
−5 −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5
10−1

10−2

10−3

Solution 23. Determine the formula of the following functions.

y
5
−1 + lg x3
4 lg x−1 + 2
lg x1/3 − 2
3

x
−3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
−1

−2

−3

−4

−5

19
 y
105

104

103

102

101

x
10−3 10−2 10−1 101 102 103 104 105
10−1
10 · x( 1/3)
10−2 0.01 · x2
100 · x( 1/4)
10−3

y
105

104

103

102

101

x
−5 −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5
10−1
100 · 10−0.4x
0.01 · 103x 10−2
10−2x
10−3

20